Stripe Prohibited & Restricted Businesses 2026: Is Your Model Allowed?
A plain-English walk through Stripe's prohibited and restricted business lists, with the business models that most often get founders into trouble: coaching, subscriptions, digital products, dropshipping, crypto, supplements and more.
Published by HynoGo — US LLC & UK LTD Formation for Non-Residents — From Anywhere.. Dedicated corporate formation, international taxation, and business compliance intelligence for cross-border founders.
Quick answer
Stripe publishes two lists. Prohibited businesses, such as illegal products, adult services, gambling, debt relief, credit repair, pyramid and recruitment-based schemes and get-rich-quick offers, cannot use Stripe. Restricted businesses, such as some regulated financial products, telehealth, CBD and crowdfunding, may be allowed after extra due diligence. Anything not on either list is allowed in principle, but Stripe can still decline or end any account.
Where are Stripe's business rules published?
Stripe publishes a page titled Prohibited and restricted businesses. It lists categories Stripe will not support and categories it supports only after extra review. Stripe says the reason is that it has to follow financial laws and the rules set by its card network and banking partners.
The list is a policy document, not a guarantee. Stripe can change it, and it can decide that a business that is not on it is still not one it can support. Always read the current version before you plan a business around Stripe.
Which businesses are prohibited?
Prohibited means Stripe will not process payments for the activity. The published categories include:
- Illegal products and services, including illegal drugs, fake ID services and jamming devices
- Adult content and services
- Debt relief companies, including settlement, negotiation and consolidation
- Some financial products and services such as debt collection agencies, check cashing, ATMs and peer-to-peer money transmission
- Gambling, including online casinos, lotteries, sweepstakes with prizes and bidding fee auctions
- Unauthorised government services and the disbursement of government support such as grants
- Identity theft protection, including monitoring and recovery
- Counterfeit goods and the unauthorised sale of licensed material
- Bankruptcy attorneys and bail bonds
- Lending and credit services such as credit repair and loan repayments with credit cards
- Cannabis products and dispensaries
- Nutraceuticals and pseudo-pharmaceuticals that are unsafe or make harmful claims
- Cryptocurrency mining and staking, initial coin offerings and secondary NFT sales
- Certain travel businesses such as commercial airlines, cruises and timeshares
- Pyramid schemes, multilevel marketing based on recruitment, get-rich-quick schemes, negative option marketing, reduced-price trials with unclear pricing, telemarketing and door-to-door sales
Which businesses are restricted?
Restricted businesses are not banned. Stripe asks for more information, such as licences, before it agrees to support them, and it can change its decision later. The published restricted areas include content creation platforms that sell tips or exclusive content, crowdfunding and fundraising, online dating, cyberlockers and file sharing, and regulated industries such as CBD with negligible THC, cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets, investment and lending, buy now pay later, telemedicine and online pharmacies, firearms, tobacco and vaping, gift cards and in-game currency, and payment facilitation.
Is coaching or online education allowed on Stripe?
Coaching is not named as a prohibited category on the page. Teaching real skills, with clear outcomes and honest marketing, is a common and usually supported business. Trouble appears when a coaching offer makes get-rich-quick promises, guarantees income, or sells a business opportunity that depends on recruiting other people. Those fall under the unfair, deceptive or abusive practices category.
If you sell courses or coaching, write plain claims, show real deliverables, keep refunds and disputes low, and keep your marketing consistent with what you told Stripe.
Is dropshipping allowed on Stripe?
Dropshipping is not named as prohibited on the global list. It is still a model that attracts reviews because it can mean slow delivery, weak tracking and unclear returns. Founders who run it successfully use fast suppliers, real tracking, a returns address, an honest delivery estimate and a support inbox that answers.
Can I run subscriptions and free trials?
Subscriptions are supported. Negative option marketing and reduced-price trials with unclear pricing are not. Show the full price and the renewal date before the customer pays, let them cancel easily and remind them before they are charged again.
What about crypto, NFTs and trading education?
Mining, staking and initial coin offerings are prohibited. Cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets are restricted. First-party NFT sales are restricted and secondary NFT sales are prohibited. Trading education is not named, but any language that promises profits can move it into the deceptive practices category.
Are supplements and health products allowed?
Stripe's published rule on nutraceuticals is about products that are unsafe or make harmful claims. Health claims you cannot prove are the common failure. Keep claims modest, supported and compliant with the rules of the countries you sell to.
What if my business is not on either list?
Not being on the list does not guarantee approval. Stripe also looks at who you are, where you operate, how you deliver, your history and your risk signals. And it can decide later that it cannot support the account. Treat the list as the first filter, not the last.
Which examples are clearly fine, borderline and not allowed?
The page cannot cover every business, so here is how the categories play out in ordinary cases. Treat these as illustrations, not as approvals.
- Usually fine: a software tool sold by subscription with clear pricing, a consulting service with a written scope, an online shop that ships real goods with tracking, a course that teaches real skills with honest claims
- Borderline and reviewed closely: subscriptions with free trials, pre-orders, marketplaces, anything regulated such as health products, financial education and anything sold with income claims
- Not allowed: gambling, adult services, credit repair, debt relief, counterfeit goods, recruitment-based income schemes and get-rich-quick offers
How should I describe my business without raising false alarms?
Describe what you do, who pays, what they get and when. Avoid words that suggest guarantees or unrealistic outcomes. Compare these two descriptions. A vague one says we help people achieve financial freedom with our proven system. A clear one says we teach bookkeeping to freelancers through a recorded course and monthly live Q and A, and customers get access on payment.
The second is honest, specific and easy to check against the website. The first sounds like a deceptive practice even when the product is fine.
Which marketing claims trigger the deceptive-practice flag?
Remove them before you apply. They harm disputes and approvals even when the product itself is allowed.
- Guaranteed income or guaranteed results
- Screenshots of earnings you cannot prove
- Fake scarcity timers and invented testimonials
- Free trials that charge a price that is hard to find
- Making cancellation harder than sign-up
- Pressure to recruit others to earn commission
What if my business sits on a restricted line?
A restricted category is a request for more information, not a refusal. Expect questions about licences, your history, your suppliers and your compliance controls. Prepare answers and documents before you apply, and keep them current. If you do not have a licence a regulator would require, do not apply until you do.
Do local laws matter as well?
Yes. Stripe's list is a floor, not a ceiling. Your country, the country of your customers and the card networks may add rules. A product that is legal in one country can be restricted in another, and a processor will follow the stricter rule.
What is a sensible checklist before I apply?
- Read the current prohibited and restricted list in full
- Write a two-sentence business description and check it against your website
- Remove claims and practices from the deceptive list
- Publish terms, a refund policy, shipping or delivery details and real contact information
- Check that your legal entity, address and bank account match your documents
- Have a plan B processor in mind before you launch
Will an LLC or LTD change the answer for a prohibited business?
No. A company is a legal wrapper around the business. If the activity is prohibited, a US LLC or a UK LTD does not make it allowed, and describing it as something else is concealment that Stripe treats as a serious breach.
If the business is allowed, a properly formed US LLC or UK LTD can solve real problems for founders who live where Stripe is not available. HynoGo forms and maintains these entities for international founders and prepares consistent documents. We do not help hide the nature of a business.
Stripe's decisions are its own and can change. HynoGo cannot guarantee approval or reinstatement of any account.
Official sources
Figures and rules last checked against these sources on October 27, 2026.
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